WinRAR is file archiving utility which can compress and decompress most of the archive formats. It supports most of the compression formats like RAR, ZIP, 7-Zip, BZIP2, GZip, TAR, ACE, LZH, CAB, ISO and ARJ. Its installation is easy as it is a flexible and light weight program. Interface of the program is simple and intuitive. You just need to drag and drop the files in the interface to create an archive or browse through the options by right clicking the file. All the functions are nicely displayed at the top of the interface in a colorful manner. Both compression and decompression can be done at very fast speed with WinRAR. You can also scan the archives against virus before decompression.
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- Download WinRAR 4.20
- Home Page
- OS: Windows 7 32-bit and 64-bit, Windows Vista, Windows XP
What is new in this Version?
- Improvement in compression and decompression speed.
- Optimization of RAR general compression algorithm.
- Some changes have been done in both ZIP and RAR compression.
1. Strong General, Multimedia and Solid Compression.
WinRAR offers very high compression ratio on large text files, executable files, object libraries etc. with original compression algorithm. For multimedia data, it offers an optional advanced compression algorithm. You can check in the screenshot that various methods of compression are there and you can select any of those and speed can also be set along with that. Then there are advanced compression parameters for text compression, audio compression and true color compression. You can also select the dictionary size.
2. Supports Multiple Formats and Repair Damaged Files
WinRAR supports multiple packing/unpacking and unpacking only formats like it has complete support for RAR and ZIP archives. Unpacking formats which it supports are LZH, TAR, GZ, ACE, UUE, JAR, EXE, 7z, ARJ and Z archives. Then it offers the repair of physically damaged files, locking of an archive, adding archive, file comments and much more.
3. Supports NTFS File System and Scans for Virus
It supports advanced NTFS file system which is New Technology File System. NTFS is a high performance file system which saves file security and file streams. NTFS has improved support for metadata, additional extensions, improved reliability and disk space utilization. WinRAR also offers to scan for virus before file decompression so that your computer remains protected. Plus it offers both command line interface and classic Windows interface.
4. Authenticity Verification and Strong AES Encryption
AES is an Advanced Encryption Standard method for data encryption which keeps your data highly secure as this method uses same key for encryption as well as decryption. WinRAR uses this strong encryption method for data security with 128-bit key. It also offers password protection feature. Also, it has authenticity verification feature which marks specific credentials like creator name, date created and last updated, so that anyone can verify if someone checks his file.
5. SFX Ability
WinRAR has ability to create self extracting archives for which it uses SFX i.e a self extracting archive which contains file archive as well as the software to extract this information. Otherwise an archive file requires another executable program to extract from archive. One issue with self extracting files is that, these are operating system specific. For example, a self extracting archive for windows will not run on linux. You just have to click on zipped folder and select the option extract from the options given.
